Veneer drier



L. e. MERRITT ET AL VENEER DRIER Filed July 9, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS X Q 2 ATTORN-EY 1.. 5. MERRITT ET AL VENEER DRIER S Y a E N WN m N t T. m e N T m w T A m A S m e h s 2 Filed July 9, 1921 and automatically STATES LOUIS G. MERRITT AND KENNETH E. BERRAY, OF LQCKPORT, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS T0 MERRITT MANUFACTURING 00., OF LOCKPQRT, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

VENEER DRIER.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Louis G. Mnnnitr'r and KENNETH E. BERRAY, citizens of the United States, residing at Loekport, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Veneer Driers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i

This invention relates to drying machines and in some of its details more particularly to drying machines especially adapted for drying veneer by application of heat thereto. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved machine of the class mentioned which is light, compact, and automatic in operation, and particularly adapted for installation where the desired output is not very large. 7

Another object is to provide an improved drying machine of light and simple construction utilizing the application of heat applying pressure to avoid warping or bulging of the material treated and intermittently relieving the pressure so as to avoid checking or splitting.

Another object isto provide an improved drying machine of the class mentioned which is simple in construction, has few operating parts, is unlikely to get out of order, and is comparatively inexpensive in manufacturing costs.

Other objects will be in part pointed out in connection with the following detail description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention and will be in part obvious in connection therewith.

In the accompanying drawings wherein an illustrative but preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, 7

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a drying machine equipped with the invention, and

Fig. 2- is a transverse central sectional view thereof. parts being shown in end elevation.

Referring to the embodimentshown. the base 1 is preferably constructed of a pair of ported in stationary position on the base being secured in position by lugs 4 extend ing laterally therefrom. Resting upon each of these lugs 18 a bracket or post 5, there being four of these posts in the embodiment shown all of the same construction. The posts 5 are preferably of cast metal each being provided with longitudinal and transverse members providing a light strong construction. Recesses are provided at the upper and lower extremities of the posts, the lower recesses receiving the lugs l of the stationary platen, while the upper recesses are adapted to receive the lugs of a superposed platen. The longitudinal member at one side of the post is extended at its lower end and provided with an angular extension 6 bolted to the planed surface of the side frame. It will be seen that this construction secures platen 3 in stationary position.

A. second platen '7 is spaced above the first and supported in normally stationary position upon the stationary posts 5, the lugs 8 at spaced portions of opposite lateral edges thereof engaging in the recesses at the upper extremities of the posts and supporting the platen in position so it may be freely lifted off its support, there being no obstruction to upward movement thereof. It will be noted that there is no positive connection between the platen 7 and the post, the former resting freely upon the latter.

A platen 9 is movably supported between platens 3 and 7 being provided with lugs 1() similar to lugs 4 and 8. engaging in yokes 11. formed in brackets 12. and being suitably secured thereto as by set screws as shown. A bracket 12 is provided at each side of the machine and each has yokes ll spaced at opposite extremities thereof for receiving the platen lugs. Each bracket is also provided at opposite extremities with downwardly extending pedestals l3 and 14 having lower terminal plates, 15 for cooperating with the operating mechanism. 'The movable platen 9 is spaced between the other two platens so as to provide spaces above and below for the reception of the veneer or other material which is to be treated.

Since the movable platen 9 is directly movable through opeiation of the operating mechanism, as described below in detail, it may be regarded as the active platen as distinguished from the platens 3 and 7 which may be designated as the inactive platens.

Guiding means for preventing longitudinal movement of the movable platen in the operation of the machine is-provided by lugs 16 on posts 5 adapted to engage with lateral faces of the yokesll to prevent movee ment in. one direction, while a flange 17 extending inwardly fromthe inner surface of the side bar of the bracket 12 is adapted to engage the. inner. face of the left post, as appearing in Fig. 1',to prevent longitudinal movement in the opposite direction.

Allrof the platens are of similar construction, having upper and lower parallel walls providing upper and lower external faces for contacting with the veneer, and an inner compartment for receiving the heating medium which. is preferably steam. Each platen may be constructed in two or more separate sections, adjacent sections being provided at their edges with complementary grooves and projections, as shown at, 13, which interengage and hold. the sections socurely in relative positions, while lugs 19 extending from the lateral edges for receiving bolts are employed to-secure the sections together. Supporting posts 20 are also pro vided between the opposite walls of the platen, as many of these posts beingv provided as are necessary for supporting the platen. walls.

The operating mechanism for the movable platen comprises mechanism at opposite sides of the machine. and inasmuch as the mechanism at both sides is similar the description of that of one side only will be necessary. As shown in Fig. 1 two oppositely disposed bell crank levers 21 are pivotally mounted as at 22 to the side frame of the base, the lateral arms thereof being reversely disposed from the pivotal mountings and having terminal bifurcations thereon for receiving rollers 23, and the downwardly extending spaced arms are alsoprosided with similar terminal bifurcations for receiving rollers 24L. Rollers 23 are disposed so as .to contact with the pedestal plates 15 of brackets 12 while rollers 24 are arranged to cooperate with a driving cam wheel 25 suitably mounted in hearings in the side frame 1. This driving cam wheel is preferably circular and has symmetrically arranged cam lobes 25 disposed between the downwardly extending arms of the bellerank lever the faces of the cam lobesengaging the rollers 24. By this arrangement the lateral thrust or reaction onthe cam wheel and bearings is equalized, and wear andfriction on the bearings reduced to a minimum. The cam wheel is provided with a peripheral worm wheel 26 meshing with a worm 27' or 28 carried on a transverse shaft 29 rotatably mounted in bearings 30 in the side frames. The worms 27 and 28 are spaced on the shaft 29 and oppositely threaded so the longitudinal thrust on the shaft, caused by. reaction of the worm wheels, is equalized so there is comparatively no thrust upon the bearings 30'of, the shaft. This is an advantageous arrangement due, among other reasons to the fact that friction and wearon thebearingsare materially reduced, and the operating parts maintainedin accurate alignment. rotationby a motor 31 through suitable reduction gearing 32.

Steam. or other heating medium may be conducted to the interior of the 'i'espe'ctive plat-ens by a suitable system of piping as indicated in, '1; The platens 3 and T leading to. the respective platen sections.

These branches are fitted with extension movable platen to the desired amount. Steam. is admitted tothe platen and the Operation of the;

driving motor started. motorthrough the rechrctron gearing causes a slow measured rotation of the cam wheels The shaft 29 is connected for are supplied by pipe 33 having branchesiil 25, rocking the bellcrank levers 21 about their pivots and raising the movable wplaten through engagement of the rollers 23 with plates 15 of brackets 12.

Slow and. steady upward movement is thus given to the movable platenv and when the veneer, in the space thereabove comes into contact with the lower surface of the.

' tacting platens and the weight exerted there on by theiupper platen tends to prevent bulging and warping thereof, while the heat causes rapid drying. As the veneer. dries a certain shrinkage takes place and checking or splitting thereof might result if the pressure. of the upper platenwere permitted to continue for a long space of time. This Heat will is prevented, however, by the subsequent lowering of the movable platen as the cams continue to rotate and theweight of the upper platen is again supported on the posts 5. As the movable platen continues its downward movement the upper gap increases in size permitting air to circulate around the veneer therein and allowing the vapor to escape. The subsequent raising of the movable platen forces the air and vapor out of the gap giving rise to a breathing effect, the air being drawn in as the space increases in size, and the air and vapor expelled as the spaces decrease in size. The drying process is thus rapidly promoted While injurious effects upon the material are avoided. It will be seen also that the action in the lower veneer space is similar to that in the; upper space, but in this case pressure is exerted on the veneer by the weight of the movable platen resting thereon. In this case the movable platen will be arrested in its descent by contact of the lower face thereof with the veneer in the lower space, and the rollers 23 will advance away from contacting position with the brackets 12. It will be noted that the lower platen 3 remains stationary throughout the cycle of operation of the machine.

As manychanges could be made in the above construction and. many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, .itis intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 7

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and spe-, cific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base, a movable drying platen adapted to cooperate with said stationary platen, brackets connected to said movable platen, and means for engaging said brackets for automatically oscillating said movable platen.

2. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base, a movable drying platen adapted to cooperate with said stationary platen, brackets connected to said movable platen, and means including a bellcrank lever engaging said bracket for automatically oscillating said movable platen.

3. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base, a movable drying platen adapted to cooperate with said stationary platen, brackets connected to said movable platen, and means including a continuously rotating cam for oscillating said movable platen.

I. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base," a movable drying platen adapted to cooperate with said stationary platen, brackets connected to said movable platen, means including a bellcrank lever engaging said bracke for au tomatically oscillating said movable platen and means including a continuously rotating cam for automatically oscillating said bell crank lever and movable platen.

5. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base, a movable drying platen adapted to cooperate with said stationary platen, a bracket connected to said movable platen, bellcrank levers adapted to engage said bracket for moving said movable platen, and a cam having symmetrical oppositely disposed cam faces engaging the arms of said bellcrank levers for operating the same.

6. In a drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a drying platen mounted on said base, stationary brackets carried by said base, a second drying platen freely supported upon said brackets, and a movable platen adapted at times to lift said second platen from its supporting brackets.

7. In a drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted in said base, brackets carried by said base, a second drying platen freely supported upon said brackets, a movable platen adapted at times to lift said second platen from its supporting brackets, and means for supporting the movable platen upon said stationary platen.

8. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base, a second drying platenfreely supported by said base and spaced from said stationary platen, and a movable drying platen oscillatably mounted between said first mentioned platens.

9. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination. a base, a stationary drying platen mounted on said base, a second drying platen freely supported by said base and spaced from said stationary platen. a movable platen disposed between said tirst mentioned platens providing spaces above and below for receiving veneer, and means whereby pressure is alternately applied to the veneer in said spaces.

10. In a veneer drying apparatus, in combination, a base, a drying plat-en mounted on said base, stationary brackets carried by said. base, a second drying platen freely f supported by said b 'ackets and spaced fromv said first mentioned platen, a movable platen.

disposed between said first mentioned platensv providingspaces aboveiand below for receiving veneer, and means whereby said second drying platen is caused to rest upon the veneer in oneof said spaces to apply pressure and heat thereto and subsequently said moving said platen including a driven, shaft having a right hand Worm and a left hand orm at spaced portions thereof.

13. Ina veneer drying machine, in combination, a movable platen and means for moving said platen including levers at opposite sides of said machine and oppositely disposed cams adapted to engage said levers to move said platen. 1

14.'In a veneer drying machine, in. combination, a movable platen, means for moving said platen including levers at opposite sidesof said machine and oppositely disposed cams adapted to engage said levers to move-saidplaten and, a driven shaft having right hand and left hand Worms at spaced portions. thereof for driving said cams.

15. In a veneer dryingmachine, in combination, a movable platen, a platen mounted on stationary bearings, means for moving said movable platen operatively connected at spaced portions thereof, said. platen moving means including a motor driven shaft having a plurality of driving connections to said platen moving means.

16. In a veneer drying machine, in combination, a movable platen. means for moving said platen operatively connected at spaced portions thereof, and a motor driven shaft having a plurality of driving connections to said platen moving means said driving connections being arranged to equalize the thrust upon said shaft.

17. In a veneer drying machine, in com- I tionary bearings, an intermediate platen mounted on movable bearings, bellcrank mass levers operatively connected with said mov able platen and a cam for operating said bellcrank levers. y

19. In a veneer drying machine, in combination, a movable platen, a pair of bellcrank levers mounted in reverse positions, and a cam engaging said bell'crank levers to simultaneously operate the same to oscillate saidplaten. I

20. 111 a veneer drying machine, in combination, a movable platen, a. pair of bellcrank levers having arms operativ elg. connected with said platen 'and' angularlyj extending arms, andoperating'means engaging said angularly extending arms.

21. In a veneer drying machine, in combination, a series of platen s'arranged sideby side, a stationary bracket. for supporting certain of said platens, and movable bracket for supporting certain of said platens V 22 Ina veneer drying machine, in combination, a series of platens arranged side by side, a stationary bracket for supporting certain of said platen & movable bracket for supporting certain of said platens and meanswhereby said brackets arerelieved at intervals ofthe weight of said platens.

23. In a veneer drying machine, in combination, a series of platens arranged side by 1 a side, a stationary bracket for supporting certain of said platens, a movable bracket for supporting certain of'said platens and means operatively associated With said movable bracket for moving one of] said platens.

24. In a veneer drying machine, incombination, a movable platen and meansfor moving said platen. including spaced Worm Wheels with driving Worms therefor.

25. In an apparatus of the nature described, in combination, an active platen, a

plurality of horizontal idle platens spaced from each other sufficiently to leavebe'- tween them a space greater than the thickness of said active platen, at least one of saididle platens being supported to permit upward and downward movement thereof, said active platen being disposedbetween said idle platens and adapted to rest by gravity on one of the latter, and means for interi'nittently reciprocating said active platen to cause it to bear upward against and lift the next higher idle platen, and then to descend until the lifted idle platen is Again engagedby and rests on its support and until the active platen rests upon' the next lov'eridle platen.

26. In an apparatus of the nature described, ,in combination, an active platen. supports for the active. platen connected thereto to provide an active platenunit movable upwardly and doivmvardly, a'plurality of horizontal idle platens spaced from each other sufficiently to leave be tween them spaces greater than the thickness of said active platen, at least one of said idle platens being supported to permit upward and downward movement, said ac tive platen being disposed between said idle platens and adapted to rest by gravity on one of the latter, and means for periodically reciprocating said active platen unit to cause said active platen to bear upwardly against and lift the next higher idle platen, and then to descend until the lifted idle platen is again engaged by and rests on its supports and until said active platen rests upon the next lower idle platen.

27. In an apparatus of the nature described, in combination, an active platen, a plurality of horizonal idle platens spaced from each other sufliciently to leave between them a space greater than the thickness of said active platen, atleast one of said idle platens being supported to permit upward and downward movement thereof, said active platen being disposed between said idle platens and adapted to rest by gravity on one of the latter, means for intermittently reciprocating said active platen to cause it to bear upward against and lift the next higher idle platen, and then to descend until the lifted idle platen is again engaged by and rests on its support and until the active platen rests upon the next lower idle platen, and means for heating said platens.

28. In an apparatus of the nature described, in combination, an active platen, supports for the active platen connected thereto to provide an active platen unit movable upwardly and downwardly, a plurality of horizontal idle platens spaced from each other sufficiently to leave between them spaces greater than the thickness of said ac tive platen, at least one of said idle platens being supported to permit upward and downward movement, said active platen being disposed between said idle platens and adapted to rest by gravity on one of the latter, aneans for periodically reciprocating said active platen unit to cause said active platen to bear upwardly against and lift the next higher idle platen, and then to descend until the lifted idle platen is again engaged by and rests on its supports and until said active platen rests upon the next lower idle platen, and means for heating said platens.

29. In an apparatus of the nature described, in combination, an active platen, a plurality of horizontal idle platens spaced from each other sufficiently to leave between them a space greater than the thickness of said active platen, at least one of said idle platens being supported to permit upward and downward movement, said active platen being disposed between said idle platens and adapted to rest by gravity on one of the latter, a rotary shaft in operative relation with said active platen to periodically reciprocate the same and cause it to bear upwardly against and lift the next higher idle platen, and then to descend until the idle platen is again engaged by and rests on its supports and until the active platen rests upon the next lower idle platen, and means for heating said platens.

30. In an apparatus of the nature described, in combination, an active platen, a plurality of horizontal idle platens, upright posts formed for supporting certain of said platens providing a space between said idle platens greater than the thickness of said active platen, said active platen being disposed between said idle platens and adapted to rest by gravity on one of the latter, and means for periodically reciprocating the active platen to cause it to bear upward against and lift the next higher idle platen and then to descend until the lifted idle platen is again engaged by and rests on its supports, and until the active platen rests upon the next lower idle platen.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in the presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS G. MERRITT. KENNETH E. BERRAY. 

